Outlaw, you're going to be waiting quite a while, I hope you know that!
i havent seen a case where person A says "person B raped me" !!! and a court convicted person B without any other evidence.. unless person B admitted to it, of course. there always is another witness isnt there? thing is, JW elders are not CSI, forensics or anything - legal cases should be brought to legal entities, without fear of being called a "slanderer". anything in the congregation takes 2 witnesses. it makes sense. people who are victims of sexual abuse need to go to LEGAL entities. And if JW elders discourage this, they should be prosecuted.
Prosecutors have said that eyewitness testimony is notoriously unreliable. They would much rather have circumstantial evidence in a case than eyewitnesses.
Frankly I don't know why Jehovah's Witnesses want their elders sticking their noses into a criminal case. If they were really interested in 'justice', have the elders wait until the legal system makes a determination one way or the other. Then, if they feel so inclinded to render some 'spiritual' ruling, do so.
The organization discourages victims from reporting for exactly the reason I've mentioned -- they want quiet. They want the publishers to be quiet, obey and do what they're told. It's easier that way. No muss no fuss. If there is a case of incest in the congregation it causes all sorts of uproar, it's a distraction and the congregation is drawn away from spreading the truth (read: selling and attending sales meetings). That is why it's discouraged. It's easier to sweep it all under the rug and pretend it never happened.
In an ideal world, the elders would have more interest in seeing to the very real spiritual needs of the victim, rather than protecting the offender. Sexual abuse, especially incest, causes far more emotional and spiritual damage than physical. There are serious questions victims have about god and, theoretically, elders should be ideally placed to address that need. That they choose not to, and almost always condemn the victim says a great deal about this organization and its defenders.
I could have done with you when I was incarcerated in the Org. I had many a fall out with them, but even when things were black and white, and you thought you had a stone wall case against them, there was a complete lack of strong brothers who had the courage to speak out.
Ah Kaytee, I don't know that I would have been much help. If I were playing football, I'd have been red-carded a hundred times!
But yeah, like you even when things were black and white it meant nothing. My father even admitted in front of an elder what he had done. He's still a MS in good standing to this day. Again things like that say more about that organization, and its defenders than the people like us. I'm sorry for what you went through, it's not fair, it's not right and completely against everything Christianity is supposed to be about.
At times I truly do wonder how people like that can live with themselves? I mean how do you make it okay in your head?
Chris
